Birds of the Cave
by Little Karma
Summary: Terry's been keeping a secret from old Bruce. it's not something he's proud of, but maybe Bruce can give him the answers he needs, and find what his heart has been missing. rated for terry's mouth in later chapters. NOT A SLASH. cover by moonfox13
1. Chapter 1 edited

This is the new edited version it's basically the same as it was just with a few extra lines thrown in; in certain places.

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We all know by Terry's own admission that he wasn't the best of kids when he was younger. He's ashamed of himself and how he acted. But, he could not be more ashamed of anything then of how he had refused to take responsible for his own child. He never told anyone, except his own parents, about his little girl; her mother had been shipped out of town not long after she was born. Terry had never felt anything like the joy he felt holding that soft tiny pink bundle in his arm. But, by then he was too late for him to say he was ready. He tried he argued with Cassie but she just wouldn't listen. He lost both of them, in one swift blow.

"Terry, honey" Mary said looking at him. Mr. Wayne had invited them all to the Wayne enterprise family picnic, but Terry seemed to be distracted by something. She fallowed his line of sight, and sighed as she saw what had caught his attention. She and Warren had known about the baby, and while they weren't please with Terry, they had encouraged his choice to not be a father at 14. They had been told that the baby would be put up for adoption, only to find out that the girl, Cassandra refused to give her up at the last minute. It had been hard, but Terry had seemed to get over it, to push the thought to the back of his mind. Part of her believed that most of Terry's trouble was caused by his guilt over the baby. Recently though Terry seemed to become distracted and look slightly heartbroken at every giggle of a child.

"Bro" Matt called grabbing Terry's arm. Terry startled and looked away from the father and daughter fast.

"What, Twip?" he asked. Taking note that Bruce was watching him closely, calculating like he always did when he was trying to understand.

"Why where you staring at them? It was really weird and creepy" Matt teased.

"Nothing you would understand, Twip" he said flicking Matt in the forehead.

"ow, MOOOM" Mat whined, making Mary laugh a little, for right now the spell seemed to be broken. Terry was back to being an annoying big brother, not a brokenhearted father.

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Later that night when Terry left for work, he grabbed the only picture he had of his little girl, Kitkun. He tucked the picture into his shirt and left.

"You want to tell me what, happened this afternoon?" Bruce really said more then asked, the look of i will find out so you better tell me firmly on his face.

"It wasn't anything really just lost in thought" Terry said rolling his eyes hoping Bruce didn't catch it.

"You can't afford to be lost in thought as batman" Bruce growled making it clear he had seen the eye roll; Terry sighed in defeat Bruce would not let this go and he knew it. He pulled a picture out of his jacket, and handed it to Bruce. He looked at it, taking in the look for pure wonder on Terry's face as he held the small pink bundle.

"Where is she?" Bruce asked, he knew just by looking at it that this was Terry's child. But, the teen never spoke of having a baby at home. He had not seen any sign of a child of that age group in the McGinus apartment.

"I don't know, her mom took off with her. Haven't heard from her since. She'll be 3 on Halloween" He said softly, his eyes downcast. Bruce set his face to being nutral as he handed the picture back.

"Get out there the city needs you" he muttered hobbling over to the computer and taking his seat.

"Right, On it boss" he sad quickly changing, really he just wanted something to take his mind off the little girl in the picture.

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Cassandra Cowl, had moved to Bludhaven...well more like she was banished from her family and they bought her a one way bus ticket. She begged them to understand, this was her daughter...their granddaughter. They would hear none of it. So, at 14 she found herself living on the streets with an infant. She looked for work but, no one was willing to hire a 14 year old mother. She had all but given up hope, when she tried one last place, Circus Circus, it was a gymnastics school, that taught gymnastic and martial arts, as well was trapeze basics. It was just a janitor job but, it was something.

The minute she walked into the owners office, he looked at the tired and worn 14 year old. He took in everything about her, in the look. Cassie felt as if his stair was going all the way to her soul.

"Sit down, please. You look exhausted" he said coming around his desk.

"Please, I'm hear about the job listed in the paper" She said, shifting Kitkun in her arms.

"Alright, who is this little fella?" He asked gently, he could see this girl had been through hell. Cassandra looked down at Kitkun.

"She's my daughter, Kitkun" she said, starting to rock the baby as she started to fuss. He nodded, before slowly lifting the tiny babe out of her mother's hold, holding her gently to his chest. Cassandra looked panicked as he held her daughter.

"Don't worry, where are your parents?" he asked rocking on his heels as the babe quieted.

"They threw me out" she said softly, tears in her eyes. He nodded looking down at the child of a child. His heart latched on to this small babe in his arms he couldn't let them just be lost to the hard world out there.

"The job is yours," he said, "there is a small apartment attached to the gym, I would like you take it" she began to shake her head.

"I'm not asking, I'm telling. You have no business being on the streets with a child this young. Plus even at what I'll pay you; you wont be able to afford rent and to take care of this one," he explained, "I'll write it into your contract" Cassandra couldn't take it anymore, the stress of the past few weeks, got to her and she broke down right there in the office of her new boss. He gently gathered her into his arms being careful of the baby. The people what had thrown away this little family deserved the lowest level of hell in his mind.

"It's going to be ok" he said softly, trying to convey in just his voice that her hell was over now, he wouldn't let anything else happen to her.

"How do you know?" she asked threw her sobs.

"Because you made it this far" he said calmly rubbing her back, "your strong"

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Ok there it is, remember to mind your manners, flamers will not like the response they get. if you have pointers feel free to give them, just be polite about it.

also, the first person to guess what Kitkun means, and guess who Cassandra is now working for, i will dedicate the next chapter to.


	2. Chapter 2 edited

Chapter 2 is here and edited, haven't change that much just gone back threw and fixed stuff.

and you got it V() it is Dick, and yes her name does mean NightBird.

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Chapter 2: Nightwing...sort of

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Terry, looked at the Egg-baby with disdain. He didn't want to take care of this thing and find out just how much he would have sucked as a father had Cassandra stuck around with Kitkun. But, he was stuck with it now and he needed the grade.

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Dick looked over at Cassandra as she talked to a few of the newer parents at the school. She had turned into a fantastic hire, she easily talk to the parents and brought in customers. He quickly gave her the job of being his assistant. Something she was thriving at, he was happy to find even in his old age he could help someone.

He looked down as he felt something attach to his leg. He smiled down at the almost 3 year old Kitkun, she shaggy black hair all over the place, and her deep blue eyes staring up at him, with her blue pacifier in her mouth.

"Hello sweetheart, how are you today?" he asked picking her up, she smiled behind her pacifier, "here lets get that out of there" he pulled it out, slipping it into the pocket of his sweats.

"Going to help me with the newbies today?" he asked shifting her weight on his hip.

"Yess, Gampa Deeek" She said with a smile, he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Alright then, lets get to it" he laughed going over to the newest class, the youngest group starting at 5 years old. Kitkun loved to 'help' him out with this age group.

"Ok, so first things first we all need to stretch out before we can do anything" Dick said sitting down with the group, setting Kitkun next to him. They went through stretches, before Cassandra came and picked Kitkun up.

"Sorry, Dick. I don't know how she keeps getting out" She said

"It's fine Cassie, she's not a bother you know that" he said, watching as she walked off the met, with the disgruntled toddler.

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"Maybe it's a good thing that Cassandra took off with her" Terry said as he searched for the missing Egg-baby.

"Terry, nothing justifies what happened to you. Losing a child is hard and hurtful, no matter how you lose them" Bruce said, he remembered the pain of Dick leaving. At least Dick had been an adult, he knew he could take care so himself. He would have been able to find Dick if he wanted to. Terry though was at a complete loss, and his child was only 3 years old. While Bruce didn't approve of the fact the child had been born when both parents where just barley teenagers, he couldn't deny that Terry should have been given a say.

"your not gonna go all preach on feelings are you? Cause if so i think i need to come back and take you to the hospital" Terry responded, listening to the silence on the other end of the comm.

"Brake in at first gotham bank, head that way" Bruce said

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Terry, looked at the teacher in shock when she explained that the only ones to get an A on the assignment. She thought he would make a good father. He smiled, maybe he would have made a good father to Kitkun. The smile just wouldn't seem to go away, no matte how hard he tried to look embarrassed.

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Dick watched Kitkun escape the play pin again. It really was useless to try and keep the girl in there. It was Halloween, and Cassie as still working on the latest ad.

"Twik o teet" Kitkun asked looking at him with big eyes. He sigh and nodded picking her up and going into the office.

"You my dear work far to hard for a 17 year old" Dick said looking at Cassie. She only grunted in response her eyes focused on the computer screen. Ok that wasn't working he decided to try another tactic.

"You know I heard that Tyler Santer asked you to the new Club tonight" he said, that got a response her head snapped up looking at him. Tyler was 18 and karate teaching assistant.

"Who told you about that?" she asked eyeing him.

"I have ears and eyes everywhere, how about, we do the B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y, thing tomorrow. You go out live a little; act your age, I'll take..." He looked down at the costume Kitkun was wearing, "Nightwing, out trick or treating" he laughed of all the hero's that girl could chose. If only they knew, just how funny it was that_ he_ was taking her trick or treating.

"Dick, it's a nice offer and all but I wouldn't feel right shoving her off on you like that" Cassie said, looking at him. She really did want to go out, but she couldn't just shove Kitkun off on people, she was her mother.

"It's fine I'm telling you, to go out have fun. We'll see you when you get back" Dick said, "I mean it Cassie, get out of this office" with that he left grabbing Kitkun's blue pail for her candy.

He strapped her into her car seat and headed off to where his apartment was. She could go crazy in his building with the trick or treating.

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Terry sighed darkly to himself as he looked at the picture of Kitkun in his arms. He'd held her for over a half hour before the nurses and taken her from his arms. Bruce watched the young bat brood, perhaps he could help the young man. He did not have to be alone...not like he, himself, had been. History didn't have to repeat itself.

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ok, there is. reviews are nice...it lets me know what readers are thinking


	3. Chapter 3 edited

Here's chapter 3 all edited. still heavy on conversation but i added a few mood descriptions.

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Chapter 3: Needle in a stack of...needles?

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Bruce looked at Barbara as she sat down across from him.

"What is going on Bruce?" Barbara asked looking at him in question. The man had just called her out of the blue saying he needed to speak with her on a matter of importance.

"I need into adoption paperwork, birth certificates, anything to deal with a teen named Cassandra Kat Cowl" Bruce said making it clear threw his voice he would not be questioned on this, "as well as information on her family"

"And your asking me?" she said, she wasn't going to just do this for him. he need to understand she wasn't a love struck girl anymore. Adding in the fact that Bruce didn't ask for anything he took it. This all made her on edge.

"They're sealed by the city, and tightly. My bet would be that some one in that family flipped and is now in protection" Bruce said simply looking at her, with the same look as when they were younger.

"Why do you want it?" she asked eying him, to do what he was asking would be a risk, she wanted to know why.

"It's not important to you" Bruce said sternly, Barbara raised an eyebrow at that.

"I don't think so Bruce. You want my help you better tell me what's going on" Barbara growled at him. Bruce didn't want to give up but, he knew Barbara would be more then willing to help when she heard what was going on. He pulled a copy of Terry's picture out of his sleeve. Barbara looked at it, and then back up at Bruce.

"Cassandra Cowl is the mother, she disappeared with Terry's daughter, a little over 3 years ago. He needs to know what happened...where she is" Bruce said watching Barbara. She nodded, giving the picture back. She studied Bruce as he replaced the picture, he did well to hide it but this only helped to show her how much he was trying to do things differently with terry then he had with any of them.

"I'll send them over by tonight" she said getting up, "and Bruce, this just proves that Dick was wrong, you do have a heart" and with that she was gone.

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Barbara did her research, with in an hour of leaving Bruce at the Coffee shop, she had found out the girl had gone to Bludhaven 3 years ago. No one had heard from her since and they where perfectly happy with that. Well, it was Dick's town. She looked him up, he wasn't as easy to find as the information on Cassandra. After all when he didn't want to be found he wouldn't be found. Luckily for her he had stopped hiding a few years about. She picked up the phone, hoping he would hear her out and not hang up the minute she said Bruce.

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Dick looked at his phone as it rang, no one called him at home, except Cassie, but seeing as she was still getting Kitkun settled on the couch it wasn't her. He picked up.

"Hello?" He asked bringing it up to his ear.

"You don't sound any different, Dick" Barbara said softly.

"Barbara, what do I ow the pleasure" he asked leaning against the wall crossing his arms.

"Look I need a favor finding some one, that's last known location was Bludhaven" she said cutting to the point, it would probably be better for both of them if she left that it was for Bruce out of it.

"Why? What's up?" he asked

"Parental kidnapping, I don't think it was intentional. The father would just like to know his kids all right" Barbara said listening to Dick shift around, she knew she had his attention.

"Why not, call the cops here and ask about it?" he asked, giving Cassie a nod that she was good to go. She smiled back in thanks before slipping out, of his apartment.

"Teenage parents, and the case is 3 years old. Poor guy finally got his act together and no one will help him out" she said lying as smoothly as she could. It was never a talent she had with Dick.

"Cut the bull, what's this really about." He snapped, finally hearing the tell in her voice.

"It is about a Parental Kidnapping, I really don't think that the mother meant to do it. And I want you to promise to hear be out on the rest, promise" she said, he rolled his eyes nodding.

"Fine, I promise I wont hang up until your done" he said dryly.

"Have you seen the News about Gotham's new protector?" she asked

"Yeah, what of the new bat?" he asked brow tilting at the mention of it.

"He's Bruce's new assistant, it's his kid. He's 17, his daughter was born when they where both 14. It's really tearing the Kid up lately that he doesn't know where his kid is" Barbara said softly. Dick stiffened at the age of the parents. In this age you didn't see a lot of teen pregnancy...and at no time in the last 100 years or so was a 14 year old having a baby common. Two 14 year old new mom's in Bludhaven wasn't likely, but he had to ask.

"What's the mom's name?" he asked his eyes locking on the sleeping toddler on his couch.

"Cassandra Cowl" Barbara said, she could almost see Dick in her mind as she listened to his movements. Something was off, he was too tense.

"I know her, know little Kit too." He said softly as he ran a hand threw Kitkun's hair gently.

"You do? Where do they live? Terry is dying to seem them, both of them" Barbara said fast, she really couldn't believe her luck.

"Terry asked you to find them?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. It made sense to him, but he could smell a rat in there somewhere.

"No...Terry doesn't know what's going on. Bruce decided after all these years to prove us all wrong and show us he has a heart. He want's to find her so that Terry can have some closer...know that she's safe" she explained tiredly.

"Bruce asked you to help find his new lackey's kid?" he asked now very skeptical of it all.

"No...he wants to find her, I would say that he will probably be calling you in the next hour. I sent him the files on Cassandra" she said

"Damn it, alright. how do we want to do this?" he asked sitting down on the arm of the couch.

"Either Cassandra can bring Kitkun to Gotham, or all of us can come down there. And trust me Dick, you know Bruce will come on this" she warned, although it was unneeded. Dick knew Bruce well enough, to know that if he wanted to find the girl, he would defiantly be apart of the first visit to see her. That and he probably wanted to keep an eye on his new lackey.

"I'll talk to Cassandra tomorrow morning about it and let you know. I'll deal with Bruce like I always do when he calls" he shrugged.


	4. Chapter 4 edited

Dick's and Kitkun's relationship, a little look inside.

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Chapter 4: The wonders of babysitting

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After Dick got off the phone with Barbara, it was around 5. He couldn't quite figure out why Kitkun was sleeping, sure she took naps but not this late in the day. He kneeled down and gently shook her shoulder.

"Come on, Kit. It's not nap time" Dick said softly, the toddler never woke up well. But, he know if he didn't wake her now getting her to sleep later would be impossible.

"Don't wanna" she muttered turning to him, her eyes still closed. Dick stiffed sitting her up and sitting next to her on the couch. He looked at the side of her face, she had the starting of a black eye, as well as bruises on the side of her face.

"What happened Kit?" he asked, she looked like someone had kicked her. Her eyes opened and she looked at him in confusion. He gently touched the side of her face.

"Oh...I didn't listen toe Mommy" she said, Dick lifted an eyebrow, he had never seen Cassie raise a hand to Kitkun, but maybe the pressure was getting to the teenage mother. If Cassie did do this though, they were going to be having a serious talk in the morning.

"What did mommy tell you to do?" he asked softly.

"Notted to go over wheres the big kids was swinging" she said starting to shrink back thinking she might be in trouble for not listening to her mother.

"What happened when you went over there?" he asked, he had a feeling that he knew what had happened now.

"Big kid, kicked me...it was not purpose. He sayed Sorry, and bought me ice cream with allo..." she seemed to be trying to remember the word.

"Allowance" Dick supplied, she nodded that was the word. He sighed, ok so he was right Cassie hadn't hurt the girl. That was a relief he would hate to have to take Kitkun away from Cassie.

"How about some dinner, and a bath" Dick said with a smiled, she nodded pushing herself off the couch. He stood and fallowed her into the kitchen.

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Dinner was simple Mac and cheese, and apple juice. It was her favorite, and Dick liked it too. Somehow just like always she ended up with Mac and cheese in her hair...on the back on her head and down her front.

"Oh Bruce is gonna love you" He laughed, trying to imagine the refined Bruce Wayne dealing with the messy toddler. She looked at him confused.

"Booce?" she asked, confused by the name. He laughed harder as he stirred her towards the bathroom.

"Don't worry about it Kit" he said kneeling down and starting the water, "Stay right here" he ordered as the phone started to ring, he didn't need to look at who it was to know.

"I was expecting this call over an hour ago" He said coldly making his way back to the bathroom.

"I see Barbara was ahead of me on this one" Bruce responded, Dick kneeled down turning off the water and checking the tempter.

"Yeah she was. Now are you going to tell me your motives or am I just going to hang up on you?" He challenged as he helped Kit out of her cloths and then swung her over the edge of the tub and into the water. She giggled, splashing a little.

"What was that? You have kids?" Bruce asked hearing the sounds of a child.

"Stop avoiding the question, and I'm baby sitting. But for all you know I'm married and this is my grandbaby" Dick snapped giving Kitkun a rubber ducky; which she squeaked loudly with a giggle.

"Now, who's avoiding" Bruce said, Dick growled in response, " Terry, is missing his daughter. He hasn't seen her since the day she was born. And with the death of his own father still fresh in his memory he want to know that his daughter will now more then just that he wasn't around, if something were to ever happen to him"

"Terry...let me guess your new Batman" Dick said, almost instantly regretting saying the B word when Kitkun started to splash some more cheering for Batman.

"Obviously" Bruce said his lips twitching as he listened to the kid in the back ground.

"Why do you care?" Dick asked getting Kitkun's hair wet. She giggled as he picked out a piece of macaroni out of her hair.

Bruce didn't really know how to answer that, did Dick even after all these years think he didn't care about them, all of them.

"He deserves to know, just like you would have told me if you where getting married if only so that I could pay for something" Bruce said sternly, "are you going to help or not?" Dick rolled his eyes same old Bruce, still full of himself, yeah Dick probably would have told him if he was getting married. if for no other reason then to show him that he wasn't like him and wouldn't ever be.

"Already on it, Kitkun's in the bath right now" He responded. Bruce was not any easy person to shock, but Dick had just done it.

"She's in the bath?" He asked, wanting to make sure he had understood what Dick had said.

"Yeah, she's chewing on a rubber ducky right now." He said scrubbing some shampoo into her hair, then making her laugh; and drop the duck, as he made it into a mohawk.

"She lives with you?" Bruce asked, this might be easier then any of them had thought.

"No, her mom works for me. She was asked out tonight so I said I would watch Kit" he said simply starting to rinse out her hair.

"Terry will be there in an hour" he said simply.

"No, Bruce if your lackey shows up here at any point before I talk to Cassandra or I say it's ok. I will kill you" Dick growled out, he was not going to let Bruce mess with this family until he had the full story from Cassie.

"That's not your choice Dick" Bruce snapped at him.

"Look, I know Cassie, she wouldn't intentionally hurt someone" he snapped back hanging up. Why he ever thought he could have a simple conversation with Bruce was beyond him. He finished giving Kitkun her bath, before letting the water out. He dried her off and dressed her in her Nightwing PJ's they had little blue birds all over them. He scooped her up and took her back to his bed room to tuck her into bed.

"Story" she asked looking at him. She loved his stories, he told her about Nightwing and Batman, and Robin.

"Lets see where did I leave off last time" Dick said thinking, "ahh that's right, Batman had just been hit by scarecrows gas. Well, everything seemed to be going fine. He seemed to calm, not shaking in fright. So, T..." He stopped himself from saying Tim, "Robin, didn't think there was any real danger. They continued to search questioning people and catching a few thugs a long the way" he said watching as she seemed to hang on his every word.

"But, along the way Robin noticed something wasn't right with Batman" He said only to have her gasp.

"Was he sicked from scarycrow?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Well, he wasn't exactly sick, he didn't have any fear. He wasn't afraid of anything" Dick explained he knew scarecrow well enough to guess what had happened from Tim's tell of that night.

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Terry pulled into the Batcave with a sigh, he was tired. He was seriously considering asking Bruce if he could just stay the night, and then go home. As he got out of the Batmobile he winced, yeah he was staying the night. He was way to sore to ride his bike home. Bruce watched him, but it almost seemed like it was looking through him.

"Hey Bruce, you mind if I just crash here tonight?" Terry asked. He grunted in response, Terry raised an eyebrow.

"So, I was thinking maybe I could take Ace with me for the next few nights" He said watching Bruce who again just grunted, while Ace stood up tail wagging. Terry raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"You know I was thinking you and Barbara use to Date and all maybe I got a chance with her" Terry said now watching closely. Bruce started to just grunt again before realizing what Terry had just said.

"Something you'd like to tell me Terrance?" He asked looking at the teen. His lips twitch just a little, in an almost smile.

"No, just seeing how long it would take for you realize what I was saying" He said with a laugh before moaning and grabbing his side, "note to self, laughter and broken ribs don't mix"

"What happened?" Bruce asked coming over to Terry motioning him up onto the table.

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OK, so I'm going off memory of the episode.


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, Chapter 5.

Just so every one knows and i don't get any comments on it, Kitkun's speech is biased on my own at that age. So, it is accurate to her age.

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Chapter 5: Questions in Bludhaven

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Dick yawned sitting up. He looked over at the sleeping ball of Kitkun. He looked at the clock, it was 8 am. Well, it was later then he normally slept. He slowly pushed himself up. He went about making Breakfast, pancakes and bacon, before waking Kitkun up.

"Thank you can get more of it into your month then last night?" Dick asked with a chuckle which in turn made her giggle, as she nodded. Breakfast turned out to be relatively uneventful, since Kitkun didn't like syrup he didn't have to worry about her getting sticky. After breakfast Kitkun wanted to help with the dishes, so he rinses the food off before handing them to her to put in the dishwasher. He then sat her down to watch cartoons, while he brushed her hair. She squirmed in his hold a little whenever the brush would hit a really nasty knot. He really was going to have to talk to Cassie about doing this for her. After a half hour of struggles her hair was brushed perfectly...well it was brushed at least.

"Ok, Kit time to get dressed" Dick said patting her on the side. She smiled and jumped off the couch going over to the bag Cassie had left. She pulled out the blue long sleeved top, blue leggings, and the jean skirt. Dick watched as she switched her shirts getting it on backwards and then switched her pants getting those right, and them put the skirt on zipping it up.

"Nice job, Kit. Come here" he said holding out his arms. She ran into his arms, he smiled fixing her shirt, and then lifting her up. If he had ever had had any kids, he imagined they would be a lot like Kitkun. He held her close, grabbing the bag and her shoes, he headed out the door. It was Saturday, Circus Circus was closed, but being the owner Dick was using the closed days to teach Kitkun a little bit just like his parents had taught him when he was younger. He loved to teach her, hell he loved teaching kids at this age. But insurance if you taught any one younger then 5 was insane, so he stuck to just teaching Kitkun, and only when the gym was closed.

He strapped her into her car seat, before giving her a kiss on the forehead. He then drove them both the 15 minutes to Circus Circus.

The minute he had the door unlocked, Kitkun ran past him to the mats, she knew what day it was. He smiled at her, and told her to stretch, for a few minutes, while he went to look for something.

It wasn't normal for the door to be locked, the morning after he'd watched Kitkun. he made his way up stairs towards the apartment. This wasn't normal, Cassie had been having a rough few months he knew that, he found her a few times crying, but they had talked she seemed fine. But, maybe he was blowing this out of portion, she had probably just gotten in late and was still asleep.

He knocked on the door, listening for any response from inside, any sound of life. He didn't hear anything, he knocked again, nothing.

"Cassie, you in here. It's Dick, I'm going in" He called through the door as he pulled out his key and opened the door. He hadn't been into the apartment in what felt like forever, since before Kitkun's birthday over a month ago. He looked around the dark living room. He sighed he could already see the state. He flipped the lights on, it was a reck in here. He looked at the left over pizza boxes, take out containers. He made his way through the house, this was terrible, they really were going to have a talk when he found her. She could not be raising Kitkun in this mess. She wasn't here, all her stuff was, which told him she would be back. He left the apartment locking it back up.

When he got back down stairs he say Kitkun staying to do a handstand. In all she was doing a pretty good job of it, her balance just wasn't there yet. He watched her fall over again, before walking onto the mat.

"Alright, Kit. Lets start with the back bend" Dick said, kneeling down next to her. She jumped back to her feet, with a smile. She had taken off her skirt, leaving her in just her blue shirt and legging, she looked a lot like what a superhero in training would look like...if there ever was such a thing. He smiled, holding back his laughter at that thought.

"Ok, Gampa Deek" she laughed starting to bend over backwards, with his hand hovering under her back. She could do it, she'd done it before, she was still a little unstable at it though. She'd be his star one day, he just had to keep Bruce away from her.

They continued like this until Kitkun's stomach growled. She giggled sitting down. Dick gave her a smile and looked at the clock hanging on the wall, 11:30.

"OK, Kit lunch time" He said taking her hand as she stood. They went up to the office where there was a mini fridge. Dick pulled out an uncrustable and milk for Kitkun, and a small packaged salad for himself. He watched as Kitkun ate quietly. Now, that he was watching her closer, he could see small changes in how she was behaving, the more he watched, her seem to go off into wonderland, the more he wanted to talk to Cassie. This could be normal he remembered hearing somewhere that kids went through a faze where they were off in their own world, but the state of the apartment worried him that, this might also be because Cassie wasn't paying attention to her any more. That she was taking care of the mimumal needs, but not giving Kitkun what she really needed.

"Kit, did mommy tell you where she was going last night?" Dick asked causing the girl to look up at him. She made a face trying to think, she was smart Dick knew if Cassie had said anything it was more then likely Kitkun remembered it.

"No, she notted tell me. I heard her on the phoney" Kitkun said softly, not looking at Dick. She wasn't supposed to listen to her mother on the phone, it was a new rule that had been made a few weeks ago.

"Hey, it's ok," he said picking her up and putting her in his lap, "what did she say?" he asked

"She was talked to a law person" she said, "he sayed that she needed to notted get caughted." Dick took in what had been said law person?

"Lawyer?" he asked looking at her, she nodded. OK, what was Cassie talking to a Lawyer about, and get caught doing what...for that matter where the hell was the teen. All of this just left him with more questions.

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And there it is fokes

tell me what you think is going on, and if you are close i'll put your name at the top of the next chapter


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, here is chapter 6. Now, a little review response first.

V: all the chapters are roughly the same length i think last chapter seemed shorter because there wasn't any adult conversation going on. When Kitkun and Dick interact, because of her age there's a lot more despriction of what's going on, and less paragraphs, or at least less lines. Also, your pretty close on what's happened to Cassie.

Mo: Dana will come into play later, I'm planing on doing almost a whole chapter on the two and how she is gonna handle this.

now, with out further ado here is chapter 6.

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Chapter 6: untitled

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Dick ran a hand through his hair, Bruce was not the type of person to wait long for an answer. The clock was ticking before he told Terry what he knew. And Cassie hadn't been seen in 2 weeks. Kitkun, was starting to miss her mother. Dick was doing everything he could to keep the toddlers mind of it. He could only thank what ever god there was that, he had let Cassie persuade him last year to make it so that if anything happened to her that he would become Kitkun's guardian.

Kitkun was pushing her peas around her plate. She had only been nibbling on her food, He sighed.

"Come on, Kitkun you have to eat" He said softly, he watched her just sigh and put a few peas in her mouth. He stood up as the phone rang, he glanced briefly at the caller id.

"Yes," he said sitting back down in the seat next to Kitkun. she crawled out of her buster into his lap. He rapped his arm protectively around her.

"Dick, what's the hold up. Bruce isn't known to beat around the bush." Barbara said

"She's gone, Babs" Dick said softly feeling like he was a teenager again.

"Gone? Who's gone. Tell me you didn't let them get away from you Dick" She said feeling the sadness in Dick's words.

"Cassie is, Kitkun's here. No one has any idea where she is" Dick said, "look I can't talk about this right now. I'll call you back in 45" Dick hung up fast.

"Come on, my little Birdie" Dick said standing up with her in his arms. He tucked her into bed, after changing her in her Nightwing jammie.

"Gampa...you think Nightwing, would find mommy" She asked looking at him. Dick looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"I know he would, did I ever tell you about when he was a robin?" he asked, she shook her head looking at him. He smiled, and laid down next to her.

"Well, then let me tell you about when Mr. Freeze kidnapped Barbara Gordon." He said starting on the tale of how Barbara was snatched form her dorm, and of how he had chased after them.

.

It took him a little over an hour of story telling before she was out. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before getting out of the bed. He pulled the door to, and then grabbed the phone flipping down on the couch. He called Barbara back.

"Dick finally, what the hell took so long" Barbara snapped at him in irritation.

"Bed time story" Dick said simply.

"Well, now you can tell me one" she said leaning back against her couch.

"Ha ha, Babs." he said drily, "when where you going to tell me Bruce is on the third line" he asked

"She didn't know" Bruce said startling Barbara slightly.

"Damn it Bruce what have I said about using me" Barbara snapped at the older man.

"What do you have?" Bruce asked ignoring Barbara.

"Cassandra Cowl went missing 2 weeks ago. Dropped Kitkun off, on a Friday night, Haven't seen her since. I took a look around her apartment it was a mess. I knew she had been starting to stress out a little, but I didn't peg her for dumping all her responsibilities on me. She's a good mom, she loves Kitkun" Dick said

"Terry, will be there tomorrow morning" Bruce said sternly.

"Damn Bruce, No. She's just had one parent go missing do you really think right now is the best time for her father who she's never met to just show up" Dick snapped.

"He's right Bruce. Plus it would look weird to the cops, for her mom to just disappear and her father to just show up out of the blue" Barbara agreed

"He should at least be told where she is" Bruce said

"Look I'm all for this new found Heart of yours, but give me a little time" Dick snapped, "how about this, Christmas is in a week. If I don't find Cassie by then, I'll bring her to Gotham to spend Christmas with her Dad and his family" Bruce was silent.

"I think that sounds fine, Dick" Barbara said

"Fine, if I don't hear from you once a day until then I will tell Terry" Bruce growled.

"Fine, I'll give you a call every night after she's asleep" he snapped back before hanging up. Bruce really know how to get under his skin. Of course he never said he would actually talk to Bruce, he just said he would call.

.

Over the next few days Dick pulled out all the stops, he was doing everything he could to find Cassie. It just wasn't happening. By Tuesday, Dick realized there was a real chance that Kitkun was spending Christmas in Gotham. So, it was that afternoon that Dick sat down with Kitkun to see if she even knew about her dad.

"Hey, Kitkun come here for a minute" Dick said patting his lap. She came over letting him pick her up, "Kitkun, did your mommy every talk about your Daddy?" He asked looking at her. She scrunched up her face thinking.

"No, mommy don'ted talk about daddy" she said shacking her head, "why?"

"Cause I know a daddy, who is looking for his little Kitkun. He lives in Gotham. His name is Terry." Dick said

"No, I be good. Don'ted gives me away" She cried latching onto him. Dick was shocked, she thought he was trying to give her away.

"Oh, Kitkun. I would never give you away. I love you, your my number one girl" Dick said cuddling her, "he just want to meet you. Trust me, I'm not gonna let you go, I promise" he clicked a few things on the computer, Bruce had sent over a few pictures of Cassie and Terry together. He had to say, Kitkun looked a lot like Terry.

"Look there's mommy and Terry" Dick said pointing at the screen. She looked over at the screen.

"Go and come back?" She asked looking at him with teary eyes. He nodded, before resting his cheek on the top of her head. They sat like this for a good while before someone knocked on the office door.

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OK, there it is. I'm back in school now, so updates might not be as fast. Also, take a guess at who is knocking or not. i'm just curious what you guess think.


	7. Chapter 7

Ok, here is chapter 7.

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Chapter 7: Dana

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Terry couldn't shake the feeling that Old Brucie was up to something. The old guy had been making more noise then usual over the headset. He was constantly telling Terry how to fight. Normally Terry would have brushed it off, thinking he was just giving him a rough time. But, this was almost every fight...and between fights.

So, for tonight he decided to slag it, he was taking Dana out. He wanted to be a normal teen for one night. If Bruce wanted him, he could call. He called Dana, telling her he would stop by her place around 6. She was thrilled that for once they where going to go out. She did warn him though that if he ditched her again, he wouldn't live to see 18. He spent the time after school getting ready, today was the last day of semester seeing as Christmas was next Monday.

He decided instead of going to the club like normal, he would take Dana out to dinner, and then maybe a movie or a walking in the park. They could just enjoy each others company like they hadn't in so long.

He smiled looking in the mirror one more time, before leaving the apartment. It didn't take him long to reach Dana's house on his motor bike. He got off and knocked on the door. Dana's father opened the door, he looked anything but pleased to see Terry. He felt his daughter could do better. And Terry didn't hold it against him, he imagined that if Kitkun ever tried to date a guy like himself he would have been upset as well.

Terry shuddered now that was a frightening thought, his daughter dating. He wondered if Cassie would have rules about it, or if she would let Kitkun run wild like her parents had let her. The only rule of theirs Cassie had broken was don't get pregnant.

"Terry" Dana snapped out, she had been standing next to him for a few minutes calling his name. He as usual had been zoned out. Terry's eyes snapped to her, and he gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry" he muttered, before they left getting into her car for the drive. They went to a pretty nice place for dinner. Dana liked it rather well, it wasn't often that she could get a good meal and Terry's company. After that, Terry decided that a walk through the park. As they walked Dana was content to have Terry's arm around her shoulders. They sat down looking at the stars. Dana turned slightly watching Terry, he was off in his own world again. His eyes were sad, and his lips where in a slight frown.

"Ter...what's wrong?" She asked softly, leaning into his side. He seemed to be off in his own world more then usual, especially since the Egg-Baby projects. Terry looked at her, he seemed to be searching for something there.

"Dana, I have to tell you something about me...It's something I'm not proud of" Terry said softly, if he was going to be serious about finding Kitkun, Dana was going to have to find out about her sometime. She nodded for him to go on, seeing the trouble he was having with this.

"I'm a father" he said looking at her, waiting for a reaction. Dana blinked taking in what he said.

"Your a father? I've never seen you with a kid besides your brother" Dana said.

"I haven't seen her since the day she was born. Her mom left with her, and didn't tell me." He explained.

"You have a daughter...what's her name?" she asked, it was starting to sink in. Terry was ahead of her in a world that she had hoped they would enter together.

"Kitkun" He smiled softly, and she watched, "Dana, I want to...no, I need to find her. I have to be a part of her life." She nodded, then she thought of something that turned her thought sour.

"Terry, how old is she?" Dana asked, they had been together for 2 years.

"She 3, Dana. I need to know if this is something that you can be alright with this. If you can understand that when I find her, she'll come before everything, before work...before you" he explained, "and if you can't...I still want to be your friend."

"Did you love her mother?" Dana asked her voice shaking. Terry looked her right in the eye.

"No, I care about Cassandra but only because she is the mother of my daughter. We where just kids messing around" he said

"Wow...Ter, I care about you I do, I may even love you. But, this is a lot to take in. Can you give me some time?" she asked

"I'll give you all the time you need Dana" he responded standing up and taking her hand. They made their way back to the car.

When they got back to Dana's house, there wasn't a goodnight kiss. There was simply a hug, and a wish of good luck. Terry waited for her to be inside before he sped off on his bike, towards Wayne Manor. He was going to ask Bruce for help.

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When Terry arrived he headed straight for the Cave. He stopped just through the clock, listening to what sounded like Bruce and Barbara arguing. He stayed silent, getting ready to leave and wait it out, when he heard his name. He froze and started to listen.

.

"Bruce, I deserver an answer to this" Barbara snapped.

"I don't have it for you. Yes, I've known. I ran a test not long after he started work for me. I do not know, but I will find out how this happened" Bruce growled back, trying to keep his cool.

"God Damn it Bruce. How can you not know _HOW_ Terry is your son" Barbara yelled at him, "don't you think he deserves to know? That Dick deserves to know that he's raising what is basically his niece"

.

Terry's mouth dropped open, what the hell where they talking about. He wasn't Bruce's son...he couldn't be. That line about Dick thought confused him, maybe they where talking about another Terry.

.

"Did you at least confirm that she is in fact Kitkun" Bruce asked sitting in his chair hands folded over his cane.

"It's an almost 100% match, their related. And it is a perfect match that Terry is your son" She said crossing her arms. Both of them looked at Ace as he raised his head looking at the stairs. They looked over to find Terry making his way down.

"Someone what to tell me what's going on" he asked his eyes on fire.

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Alright there it is. Decided to use epilogue, also, next chapter the first meeting of Kitkun and Terry.


	8. Chapter 8 edited

ok, I know it's been a while this is just an edit of what was there before. Cause I read threw it trying to find my muse that found so many mistakes I couldn't take it. Hopefully I'll have something new for you soon though.

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Chapter 8: A Merry Christmas

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Terry watched the snow fall from the window in the living room. He was waiting for Bruce to get here. They hadn't talked about the fact that Terry somehow was his son, and for right now they seemed to just let the tension build between them.

Bruce was coming over to help Terry, explain to his mom that her missing Granddaughter would be joining them for the holidays. Bruce had had Barbara talk Dick into bringing the girl up for Christmas Eve as well was the day. They hadn't figured out where he was staying yet.

"Terry, Mr. Wayne is here" Mary called back out to the teen. Terry went to the entrance. They nodded to each other, before turning to Mary.

"Mom, we need to talk to you about something. Would you sit down" terry said, Mary looked back and forth between the two, taking in the serious faces of them. She nodded going into the living room.

Once she was seated, Terry sat down across form her. Bruce took a seat in a chair between them.

"Honey, what is it?" Mary asked watching Terry, he seemed to be nervous.

"Mom...you know how I've been kinda out of it lately" he started, she nodded looking between him and Bruce, "I've been thinking about Kitkun. I decided I wanted to find her and Cassie." he explained

"You know I'll support you, in what you want if I can" Mary said reaching across the coffee table taking her son's hand. Terry nodded giving her a smile.

"I asked Mr. Wayne for help finding her...Mom, we found her" Terry said smiling.

"Oh, Terry that's amazing." Mary said smiling at him, giving his had a squeeze.

"Mom...She's gonna be here for dinner. Her and her...guardian" Terry said, putting on the don't kill me for changing the plans smile. Mary raised an eye brow.

"Then it's a good thing I always cook for any army on Christmas" she smiled, "Her guardian? Has something happened to Cassie?" She asked more out of curiosity then anything else, she didn't much care for Cassandra Cowl.

"She's had something come up" Bruce said in his deep rumble, "Her Guardian is an old...friend of mine. He agreed that a few days here might do the young girl some good."

"Of course...we don't have any presents for her" Mary said looking alarmed.

"Mom, it's cool. I went and did a little last minute shopping. At Mr. Wayne's insistence. I've got a few things for her. Plus I believe Mr. Grayson is bringing some presents from Santa to put under the tree" Terry said.

"When will they be here?" Mary asked standing to go back to the kitchen and check on the food.

"The should arrive sometime soon" Bruce said.

"Alright then" Mary said with a nod before she disappeared. Terry watched her go before standing as well and going back over to the window. He was not going to talk to Bruce more then nessiary until, he had an answer to why the hell Terry had half of his DNA. Bruce sat back in the chair watching Terry, let the teen brood.

Dick sighed as he looked in the rear view mirror a the napping Kitkun. He didn't like being back in Gotham, but he had to agree that the change might do Kitkun some good. He looked at the address he was going to again. Gotham had changed so much since he had left. It took him a little more looking before he finally found the building. He parked and grabbed, Kitkun's bag from the trunk. He put it on his shoulder, and went to wake the toddler.

She did not wake up well. But, she never did. She fussed for a few minutes before quieting. Once she had calmed down, he scooped her up in his arms and headed up to the apartment.

He knocked on the door, shifting Kitkun on his side. She had her head resting on his shoulder, her thumb in her mouth. He reached up and pulled it out. She whined at him and put it back. Dick sighed, and knocked again. This past week and had been trying beyond imagination. Kitkun, had started to kick off, at everything. She wouldn't take her naps which led to her being cranky, she refused to eat. When she did sleep she had nightmares. And on Tuesday Babs had shown up to take a few DNA samples from Kitkun. She hadn't called to say anything about it, but when he had called her she had seemed weird like she was trying to hide something from him.

"Uh, Hi who are you?" Matt asked looking at the older man standing outside their apartment. Dick looked down at the child, and raised an eyebrow.

"Hi. I'm Richard Grayson. I'm looking for Terrance McGinnis" Dick said shifting a little under the kids questioning gaze.

"TERRY!" He yelled, "So what do you want with my brother anyway?"

"Uh..." Dick wasn't sure how to answer that.

"Hey, beat it twip" Terry growled giving the younger boy a little push out of the way, "Mr. Grayson, I'm guessing"

"Yeah, Terrance? And Dick is fine" Dick said looking at the teen.

"Call me Terry" He responded moving to the side to let Dick in. Terry's eyes fixed on the toddler in Dick's arms. A small smile broke out on his face, before butterflies filled his stomach.

Kitkun stared at him, wrapping her arms tight around Dick's neck.

"Hey, it's alright." Dick said softly to her setting the bag down so he could better hold the toddler that currently had a death grip on him. Terry felt slightly deflated at her fear.

"Remember we talked about this. He's your mommy's friend" Dick said looking at the girl. She just buried her face in his shoulder. Terry looked down leading them into the living room. He didn't know what he expected, but he hadn't expected her to be afraid of him.

Bruce stood when they entered the living room. He took in Terry's chest fallen appearance. Things would get better, she just need to get use to him.

"I appears you have something attached to your neck, Dick" Bruce said raising an eyebrow. Dick blink, Bruce had just made a joke...wow.

"I guess I do. Ok, Kitkun time to get down, your getting to big for this anyway" Dick said trying to untangle himself from the clutching kid. It took a few minutes, but he got her down on her own feet. She clung to his leg.

"She certainly is rather leech like" Bruce said gruffly. Dick fixed him with a look, that said he better watch it. He then turned to Terry.

"Terry, there are a few T-O-Y-S in that bag I left by the door. I'm sure she would enjoy that" Dick suggest. Terry stared for a minute before it sunk in. He nodded and left the room briefly to grab a few toys from the bag.

"Gampa Deek, who he?" She asked peeking at Bruce from Dick's leg.

"That is Mr. Bruce Wayne" Dick said looking down at her. Her eyes lit up.

"The one that marrieded the plant thingy" she asked, Dick laughed and nodded. Bruce raised an unamused eyebrow.

"What can I say Bruce, she loves batman stories" Dick laughed. Terry seemed to brighten at that as he reentered the room.

"She does? Well have I got a treat for her" Terry said, causing her to look up at him curiously.

"I know some of the best stories about the new Batman" Terry said kneeling by her. She tilted her head a little, he offered up one of the toys in his hands. She took it tentivly before sitting down and starting to stack the vid blocks. Terry sat down across from her, and smiled helping her build her tower.

Dick and Bruce watched the two, occasionally glancing at each other, over 20 years of not talking left a lot to hang in the air. Terry was perfectly aware of the tension filling the room. He didn't like it, it seemed almost explosive.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Grayson" Mary said coming into the living room, Dick looked up at the red headed woman.

"Yes, Mrs. McGinnis, but please call me Dick" He said standing up to shake her hand.

"Mary" she corrected him, "but, if you don't mind my asking. How is it that you found my Granddaughter?"

"Well, its more like she and Cassie found me. Cassie showed up looking for work 3 years ago. I couldn't turn away a 14 year old mother, into the cold. She's been working for me ever since" He explained as best he could.

"Where's Cassie now?" Terry asked, he had heard she wouldn't be here, tonight. But, he was curious where she was. Kitkun's eyes started to water, Terry looked panicked and snatched her into his arms hoping to stop the water works before they got really started.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

"Mommy's goned" she said tears rolling down her cheeks. Terry looked over at Dick confused. He shifted her up a little as she locked her arms around his neck.

"Cassie's been missing for 3 weeks" Dick said softly, he came over to take Kitkun. Terry just shook his head letting her burrow deeper into his hold.

"Maybe we can talk about this more after bed time" Mary suggested, "dinner is ready anyway"

"Thanks mom" Terry said going around her into the kitchen to sit down. The table was small, and it would be a squeeze to fit every one, and Kitkun would have to sit in some one's lap.

Dinner was a hectic event, Matt apparently felt his position was the baby of the family was endanger and started to kick off. Mary had sent the 8 year old to his room halfway through the meal, telling him that if he didn't straighten out soon, all his presents where going back to the store. The next big event of the evening was figuring out where Dick and Kitkun were staying for the night.

Dick explained that Barbara had invited them to stay at her house while she was out of town with her husband. There was a small argument about that, Bruce saying that Dick should just stay at the manor. He had a room there already. And Terry wanted to be able to be close to Kitkun. Dick finally won that one, but terry was coming over and he wanted to know what the hell was going on.

.

It was just after midnight when Terry arrived at the Gordon/Young house hold. Dick was sitting up with coffee waiting for him. Terry took the mug gratefully and sat down.

"How's that new suit?" Dick asked breaking the silence. Terry looked at him.

"It works pretty well, had a few problems at first. But, I got the hang of it pretty fast. Don't know how you guys did it before all the tech" Terry shook his head. Dick snorted at the comment.

"Any activity tonight?" he asked.

"It's Christmas, no one is that cold hearted" terry laughed, Dick snickered.

"I'd watch it if I were you, last time I said that the Joker broke out of Arkam" Dick warned.

"Oh, god no. I will use the freeze gun on anybody who tries to cause trouble for me to deal with tonight" Terry said

"Tell me about it, it was the only year I ever got Bruce to watch 'Its a wonderful Life'" Dick laughed, Terry smiled before his face turned grim.

"What happened?" He asked referring to Cassie.

"She wanted to go out Friday 3 weeks ago. I told her I'd watch Kitkun. She needed to go out and be a teenager every now and then." Dick explained, Terry nodded he was paying attention, "Now I noticed a few weeks earlier, that she seemed to be more stressed then usual. We talked about it, and I told her that I was happy to help her any way I could. So, when she didn't show up that morning to get Kitkun, I brushed it off. When she wasn't at the Gym, I worried slightly but figured she was probably out grocery shopping or something of the short, at least until I saw the apartment." Dick shook his head.

"What was wrong with it?" Terry asked his eyes narrowed.

"It was a reck, not the type caused by a struggle but the kind caused by a person just giving up. It hadn't been cleaned a quiet some time. I tried calling her when she didn't show up by dinner time. It went straight to voice mail. Later that week, the phone was just disconnected. I haven't found anything, all I know this that Kitkun heard her talking to who I believe was a Lawyer the day before she disappeared." Dick finished

"Something must have happened to her, Cassie maybe many things but a flake was not one of them when I knew her"

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Cassie looked out the window of her room...no her Cell. She had gotten a call 4 weeks ago from her Father, saying her mother was in trouble. He wanted to meet with her. They weren't supposed to have any contact since her parents had flipped on some Mob boss. Her father had been his second in command. She had agreed to meet him the next Friday. Only when she got there her father wasn't there, only a group of thugs for Hire. They had chloroformed her, and when she woke up she was laying in a living room with her family. They told her of this wonderful man who was going to give them back the life they had had. He just wanted Cassie to tell him a few things.

He wanted to know about Kitkun, and about Terry. She could see it in the way he moved that he was going to hurt them. She refused she would tell him nothing, even if it killed her.

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the poll is still open for those that haven't voted i might post another one once i finish editing all the other chapters.


	9. Chapter 9

So it's been awhile. It took me forever to get my muse back on this. and surprisingly I got it back by watching Young Justice.

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Chapter 9: Where in Gotham is Cassandra Cowl?

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It was the day after Christmas, and Terry could tell Barbara and Bruce wanted to talk to Dick. On what he wasn't enterally sure but, he would put money on Bruce was trying to pull Dick back into the folds of the night life. So, being the good employee he was, he decided to take Kitkun out.

Dick gave him the keys to his car, after he had jokingly said he could just take the batmobile. Although Kitkun would have loved it, every one of in agreement she was to know nothing of the night life, not for a long long long time. If ever, terry and dick were on the same page on that.

.

So, now Terry was parking at the Zoo. He went around the car popping the trunk and setting up Kitkun's stroller. Once it was set up and picked her up from her car seat, and set her in the stroller, and buckled her in. He locked the car and they where off to check out all the animals. She loved the Pandas, and Terry had to admit watching the black and white bear had a draw too it.

* * *

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Cassie panted as she ran along the street, hood up. She had slipped her guards when they had brought her breakfast. She had to get back to Bludhaven, get her baby girl. She looked over her shoulder briefly before getting onto the nearest bus. She stumbled back to the back of the bus curling up in the corner. The few people on the bus looked at her with pity and slight fear. She ignored them curling tighter into herself, she needed a plan. She didn't know what Terry had gotten himself into but, it wasn't good.

* * *

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Terry smiled watching the running Kitkun. she was running around the playground at the zoo. She had gotten her face painted earlier, so she had tiger strips on her face. She came back over to him grabbing his hand.

"Huh? What's up?" he asked looking down at her. She pulling him over to the swings. He smiled picking her up and putting her in one of the swing. He pushed her gently, listening to her giggle. She would be going back to Bludhaven tomorrow, he didn't want her to go but he knew she would be safe with Dick. Dick had told terry he was more then welcome to visit any time he wanted, day or night.

Part of him still worried that he wouldn't be a big part of her life if she lived with Dick, that he had already lost so much time with her.

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"Ok, what next?" Terry asked as he lifted the 3 year old on his shoulders. They had gone to everything in the zoo, and had faces painted. There wasn't much left to do, but he had a few ideas. Kitkun let out a yawn resting her head on top of Terry's.

"Alright, maybe nap time" he said with a nod; heading back towards the car. He was just about to step off the curb when he heard screaming behind him. A woman screaming for help. He turned to take a look, there wasn't much he could do with Kit, but maybe he could help hide the woman or something.

"Mommy" Kitkun yelled also looking at where the scream had come from. Terry gasped in shock, there running from a group of jokers was Cassie. Sure, she was older and a little banged up.

* * *

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Cassie looked at where the cry of Mommy had come from. And stopped in her tracks as she saw Kitkun, her baby sitting on a young man's shoulders. She sprinted towards them only to get tackled by one of the Jokers. She kicked and flailed trying to get free again. Terry didn't even think, he quickly swung Kit off his shoulder setting her down, "stay here" he ordered his voice becoming deeper...harder. Kitkun's eyes widened at the tone; not daring to disobey; as she watched Terry as he rushed into the fight head first.

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Cassie gasped for air as the Joker what had been on top of her was nocked off.

"Get moving Cassie" Terry snapped as he kicked the green haired punk off him and jumped to his feet.

"Terry?" she asked in shock, but it made sense who else would Kit be with in Gotham.

"Now Cassie" terry growled, as the two other Jokers joined there buddy. Cassie looked torn between helping terry and snatching up her daughter to make a run for it.

"Hey isn't that the kid?" one of the jokers asks the other as she spots Kitkun. Terry slammed his fist into the clown-girls face.

"Keep your eyes off my kid" he snaps, as Cassie finally clicks into mom mode. She runs over and snatches Kit up into her arms, and keeps running weaving threw the people in the streets.

* * *

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By the time Terry had subdued the Jokers and turned around to see how Kit and Cassie were, they where long gone.

"Shit" he hissed, Dick was going to kill him. Not to mention that Cassie was running around Gotham probably with no money and with Kit. Terry pulled out his cell and dialed Bruce.

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"Look Dick, we are not trying to drag you back here," Barbara said as she crossed her arms, "but with Ms. Cowl missing, don't you think that Kitkun should be around the rest of her family."

"I told Terry he was welcome any time, day or night. Even offered to show him a few things, if he comes down for a weekend or something. I am not taking his daughter away from him" Dick defended looking at Barbara hard before sending a glair Bruce's way.

"Terry isn't the only family she has here" Bruce snapped, causing ace to start growling at his masters distressed tone.

"Oh and who else does she have, her grandmother? her uncle?" Dick said, "From what I saw at dinner, she's happy that Terry found Kit. But she'd also be just as happy to only she Kit on holidays. And her Uncle has proven to be a real brat at the moment"

"Not just them" Barbara said softly, reaching for a stack of papers.

"He doesn't need to know about that" Bruce said putting his hand on top of the pile.

"What? What don't I need to know about?" Dick snapped stepping forward to take the stack from under Bruce's hand. Ace growled loudly and bared his teeth at the threatening move.

"That Kit is your niece" Barbara said as Dick finally got the papers from Bruce.

"What?!" Dick said starting to flip threw the report in his hand, it was the results of many DNA test, "Terry is...your son. How?"

"We don't know" Bruce said, "the first time I met his mother he was already a teenager."

"What about his kid brother you test him too?" Dick asked looking back at the papers.

"Yes, he's a match as well" Barbara said, "so when I say family I mean us Dick"

"Bruce isn't exactly the grandfatherly type. Hell he's not even the fatherly type" Dick said

"I did what I thought was right" Bruce snapped stamping his cane down.

"Yeah its nice to see you two getting along so well, but we have a problem" Terry's voice filled the room before his picture came up on the screen, "and by the way Bruce I am so installing a home phone down in the cave"

"What is it terry?" Bruce asked sitting in the chair and turning to face the screen.

"Cassie's back, she brought Jokers with her. I'm on my way in to pick up the pooch and change." Terry said

"Where are they?" Dick asked he could tell from Terry's tone something was wrong. In his gut he had a feeling he knew what.

"Cassie snatched Kit and ran. I lost um when I was fighting the Jokers. Who by the way where a little too interested in Kit" terry said before signing off.

* * *

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.

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Cassie finally stopped running as it started to get dark. She panted as she leaned back against the wall of an alley she had stopped at. She remembered this area vaguely from when she was a wild child and running with Terry. She looked down at her baby as she shivered.

"Where we go Mommy?" Kit asked looking at her with deep blue eyes.

"I don't know Little Bird, I don't know" Cassie sighed sinking to the ground slowly, cradling Kit even closer to her. It was going to get colder a lot faster now what the sun was down. She needed to find some where safe for her and Kit to lay low for a little while. She didn't have any money though, and she wasn't about to squat at some abandoned building.

"Go home, please" Kit said softly as tears started to gather in her eyes.

"We will Baby, we will. But first we need to find some where safe to stay tonight" Cassie said standing up and starting to walk again.

.

"Looky here boys a little lost lamb" a gruff voice laughed as Cassie passed another open alleyway. Cassie tense and turned slightly getting ready to run.

"Aww and she's got such a cute little baby" a higher pitched voice laughed, as a woman with a bright red T on her face came into the light. Kitkun held tighter to Cassie and she back up never taking her eyes off the now visible gang of 4 T's.

"Where not looking for any trouble" Cassie said softly.

"Oh, that's good cause we don't want any from you either" the largest male laughed advancing on them. Cassie took another step back tripping over the curb. She gasped as she stumbled to regain her balance.

"MOMMY" Kit cried making Cassie turn her head and see only head lights.

* * *

There is it. What's happening to Cassie though? What about Kit? well tell me what you think.

Also i want to know what you think, should i move Kitkun to Gotham or should Terry split his time between Bludhaven and Gotham?


	10. Chapter 10

So, this chapter just sort of flowed out with out much thought to it. I'm sorry if it seems a little drawn out. But i needed something to show that Terry was growing into his role and to show that the Batfamily is still just that a family.

* * *

Chapter 10: Where she belongs

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"Have you found anything yet?" Terry asked as he flew over the city. He had been checking all over the city, he couldn't find anything. "is Nightwing having any luck finding the little bird?"

"No, the tracker isn't putting out a signal anymore" Dick responded, as he resumed typing going threw security footage of the Zoo.

"Does Mama Bird know about the tracker?" Terry asked as he landed on top of a building.

"She might, I made a comment about putting a tracker on her, when she disappear for a few hours, turned out she had hidden under my desk and fallen asleep." Dick responded

"I know Mama Bird well enough to know that she would ditch anything that she thought might be used to trace her" Terry said, "does she know about the nightlife?"

"No, she absolutely does not know" he said firmly of that he was sure. Cassie had no interest in the old Gotham hero's, and as far as he could tell never had. So there was no way she would have even a thought that Dick was Nightwing.

"Well that might be a plus on our side I'm not sure" Terry said.

"You've done all you can for tonight" Bruce said over looking at where Terry was located.

"No, I'm not done. I have to find her. Find them" Terry growled darkly

"Got to admit Bruce, I think he's spending way to much time with you if he's starting to sound like you" Dick said dryly but, he did agree there was nothing else Terry could do.

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"Commissioner I thought you were on vacation until tomorrow?" Barbara's secretary asked looking at the former bat as she rushed paster her office, and into the high ranking squad room.

"I need an Amber alert out NOW" Barbara ordered as every one jumped up.

"Yes, mama" Chief Wigum said looking at her as he quickly opened the channels and got ready to type.

"3 year old girl, answering to Kitkun. last seen at the Gotham Zoo exit to the south parking lot. Shoulder length black hair, blue eyes. Wearing blue jeans, gray shoes, and a black Nightwing long sleeve t-shirt, along with a silver medical bracelet. Believed to be in the company of her mother Cassandra Cowl, who is 17 and has blond hai , green eyes. They are believed to be on foot, some where in the city. If seen contact police immediately, they are believed to be the target of a Gang." Barbara finished looking at the Chief.

"I got it, it is now playing on every station with in 100 miles of the city." He said looking at her.

"I want it broad casting every 20 minutes until at least the girl is found, I will have pictures to go with it shortly" Barbara said

"Commissioner if I may, whats so important about this kid that you couldn't call this in?" he asked every one else nodded they where curious as well. It wasn't that a missing child wasn't top priority but they could have handled this with out her. She looked hard at every one in the room before nodding, more to herself then to them.

"She is the daughter of Bruce Wayne's assistant Terry McGinnis" She said watching all of their reactions to the news she had just revealed.

"So he's thinking that the kid might be being targeted for a ransom demand" Commander Taylor said stating what most where thinking.

"I don't know what Mr. McGinnis thinks on this all I know is that he found the mother of his daughter being chased by a gang of Jokers, stepped into assist while he was doing that it is believed that Cassie picked up their daughter and ran" Barbara said trying to sound detached from this. But just saying Joker and missing in the same sentence always made every one in the Bat-family nervous, sure the original was dead but there was no telling what a gang of the want to be's would do to a small child.

"Also, Mr. Wayne is personally paying over time and a half for all officers on this case. Start sending out the orders to make check points and sweep the city" she said before retreating to her office.

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"Terry, honey please just come home and get some rest" Mary said over the phone as she stood in the kitchen watching Matt play with a new toy half heartedly.

"I can't mom. If this is a ransom thing then they are gonna call Mr. Wayne, I need to be here when that happens" Terry said making his voice as firm as possible with out crossing the line to giving his own mother orders. He knew she was only trying to help, to make sure he was doing what need to be done. But he had bigger thing to worry about, like what this really was. No one except a few knew that Kit was his daughter. So that meant that there was no way some Gang was after Kit for ransom.

"Terry, I'm sure the police and Mr. Wayne can handle that and let you know" Mary said sharply. Right now she just wanted her son home so she could hold him and tell him it would be alright. It was her instincts to protect her baby from anything that might hurt him in anyway. She was putting her foot down on this one, he as coming home.

"What if it was Matt?" Terry said softly, "or me" he need to get through to her that Kit was his daughter, his child just as much as he was Mary's son. Mary deflated realizing what he was saying. Her own instincts where telling her exactly what Terry's were telling him. That their child was going to be hurt and they needed to protect.

"Alright, you're right. You need to be there when the call comes." she breathed softly, "just please take care of yourself, and call me if you need anything, and I do mean anything"

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"Mommy" Kitkun cried softly as she brought a hand to her head, and tried to open her eyes. The lights where so bright though.

"Doctor" a nurse called out into the hallway as she hurried to Kitkun's bedside, "hey honey" she said as soothingly as possible.

"Where my mommy" Kitkun cried harder not even having to open her eyes fully to know the woman next to her was not her mommy.

"It alright, honey just lay still ok" the Nurse said softly placing a gentle hand on the top of Kitkun's head. She shrunk form the touch, and started to cry harder.

"MOMMY, GRAMPA DEEK" she screamed, curling herself up as small as possible to get away from the strange people in the bright room.

* * *

there is chapter 10 for you guys i know its a little sorter then the others. Also, yes i was very lazy with Names for the police any one that tells me there one of them is from gets cookie. And still waiting to hear what every one thinks about where Kit should be raised.


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